Automatic packaging machines are used for many purposes, for example, inserting almost anything, such as candy, food, small parts, pharmaceuticals, e.g. pills, capsules, etc., in measured amounts into a first container and thence into external display containers, e.g. boxes, bags, etc.,tamper-proof or otherwise. These display containers may also include instruction or cautionary material concerning the use of the contents which must be inserted appropriately into the display container.
There is a great amount of prior art concerning the measurement of specific quantities of goods for packaging, their insertion into packages, and the final sealing or glueing before distribution to the retailer. While many of the dispensing mechanisms rely on gravitational forces to move the product, there is a great need to positively control the movement of the product so that the equipment can move in a substantially continuous manner, rather than in a time consuming intermittent fashion.
To further the teachings of my own prior art, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,556, issued Jan. 8, 1991, for a MODULARLY CONSTRUCTED AUTOMATIC PACKAGING MACHINE, a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 164,010 filed Mar. 4, 1988 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,566, the usage of modular construction permits a great number of advantages, as spelled in those patents, but the necessity of positive control over a semirigid container, such as a bottle, during its transfer between modules requires additional means mounted on a universal type of module which will be adjustable to various sizes within the design limits of the module. In this art the various control items, mounted in spaced relation on a continuous chain over an endless closed path, are collectively normally referred to as mandrels.